Ruby owns a gun shop because frankly, guns are more reliable than the magic she was born with. Guns are less likely to fail her when tragedy strikes. She’s been hiding away from the one man she hasn’t wanted to see again—Derek—only now he’s found her, and he needs her help. He’s a powerful sorcerer and can help to protect a magical fault line that’s in danger, but she’s the best teacher of magical practice he knows, and he needs her to train a coven of witches to continue guarding it after he’s gone. Ruby might not want to deal with Derek, but the help he needs gives her a needed opportunity for revenge against a demon named Asmodeus, a demon she’s been working up the ability and nerve to kill for years. Derek, however, isn’t about to let Ruby get away without telling him why she left him, and what’s changed her into a woman he hardly recognizes.

Joey W. Hill’s Something About Witches drove me wild. The plotting is interesting, the secrets are striking, and the characters have chemistry to spare. One of my favorite things about this book was gradually finding out what drove Ruby—in her revenge against Asmodeus, and in her flight from Derek. It isn’t unusual to find a romance novel with this kind of revenge/flight setup, but what is unusual is to find a set of motivations and emotions so strong that I could completely understand why Ruby did what she did. Usually I end up wanting to shake one or both characters for believing that they somehow “can’t” be together when obviously they can, but things aren’t nearly so easy in this tale.

For a seemingly simple setup, there’s plenty of plot to unveil as the book progresses. The story is powerful, tragic, and heart-rending, with plenty of complex characters to move it along. I can’t wait to read more about Mikhael, a surprising character with an unusual role to play in this tale. However, I would have liked to see a little more depth and detail to Asmodeus.

Ruby and Derek have plenty of chemistry. The romance is both sweet and explosive, while the sex—heavy on bondage and domination themes, which are handled quite well—is wild and passionate. Mikhael’s presence in Ruby’s life presents an excuse for a peek into a bit of the darker side of domination and submission, but that, too, is handled surprisingly well.

I don’t want to say too much; there are too many lovely details to spoil accidentally. Let’s just leave it at this: Something About Witches is a hot, steamy, tragic, pulse-pounding, emotional story that’s very well worth a read.